On Thursday 18 June, a new stage of the programme “Biodiversity and territories on stage” took place, promoted as part of the POSEIDONE project and organised by VeGAL, with a special visit to the Ecomuseo dei Lazzaretti Veneziani. The initiative involved a group of 12 participants from various associations in Eastern Venice, who were accompanied on a discovery of a place of unique historical and environmental value, located between the islands of Lazzaretto Vecchio and Lazzaretto Nuovo, in the Northern Lagoon of Venice.
The experience was guided by the Ekos Club APS association, guardian of the memory and promotion of this heritage. The tour touched on key aspects of the historical function of the lazzaretti as places for the prevention of epidemics and health management of maritime traffic, but also their link with the lagoon landscape and biodiversity, which has always been a co-protagonist in local history.
The visit included an explanation of the quarantine models, the organisation of daily life in the facilities and recent environmental restoration projects, which now aim to restore value to these places as centres of memory, collective health and ecological culture.
‘Through these cultural and environmental itineraries, we can reconnect people to the value of the lagoon as a fragile and vital ecosystem,’ commented one participant. ‘The history of the lazarettos tells us about communities that knew how to take care of themselves and their environment, even in the most difficult times.’
The initiative combined discovery, reflection and immersion in the lagoon landscape, offering an interdisciplinary perspective between past and present, in perfect harmony with POSEIDONE's objectives.
